Kingdom of Football: Saudi Arabia and the Remaking of World Soccer
Kingdom of Football: Saudi Arabia and the Remaking of World Soccer, by Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen
Kingdom of Football explores how and why Saudi Arabia burst onto the landscape of world football in 2023, and examines what the speed and scale of Saudi engagement - as investor, owner, sponsor, host and competitor - might mean for the Kingdom and for football.
Campus Locations: Tanner Irish Humanities Building - Carolyn (CTIHB). Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Tuesday, February 24, 2026, 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM.
Venezuela: Past, Present...and Future?
with Alejandro Velasco - Associate Professor of Latin American History, NYU
At dawn on January 3rd US troops flew into Venezuela's capital Caracas, captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, and flew them to New York where they await trial on charges ranging from narcoterrorism to possession of explosives. The overnight raid marked a dramatic culmination of a months-long build up of US military power, attacks, and threats of US invasion. Yet in the immediate wake, most of Maduro's government remains in power, and despite early signs of tension, appears now to be working in lockstep with US demands for oil concessions. The result has been mounting questions both about the future, and the past, of Venezuela, the US, and the relationship between both: what became of the project of "chavismo" that ruled Venezuela for a quarter century? Are we witnessing a new type of "regime change" or a return to old forms of US imperialism? And most importantly, what is the prospect for a just, democratic future for Venez…
Campus Locations: Tanner Irish Humanities Building - Carolyn (CTIHB). Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, February 27, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
Aging with Limited Kin: Childlessness and Care Arrangements in Singapore and Thailand
with Bussarawan "Puk" Teerawichitchainan - Department of Sociology and Anthropology, National University of Singapore
Rapid demographic transitions and changing family structures are increasing the number of adults aging with limited close kin. Drawing on mixed-methods evidence from Thailand and Singapore, this talk examines how childlessness and other forms of constrained kin availability shape long-term care and advance care planning in later life. Findings reveal substantial heterogeneity among childless older adults, pronounced gender differences in care vulnerabilities and planning behaviors, and persistent tensions between familistic norms and the lived realities of kin limitation. Moving beyond deficit-based framings, the presentation highlights adaptive strategies through which older adults reconfigure care and planning, and argues for reimagining kin, care, and policy in low-fertility, family-oriented societies.
Campus Locations: Social & Behavioral Sciences (BEH S). Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Wednesday, March 4, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
Finding Siberia Between Asia and Europe: Russia's Academy of Sciences and the Eighteenth-Century Taxonomic Project
with Matt Romaniello, Historian from Weber State Travel narratives provided foreigners with an avenue to criticize Russia. This talk will consider how scientific and medical inquiry provided new justification for Russia's expansion into Asia.
Campus Locations: Language & Communication Bldg (LNCO). Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Thursday, March 5, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
From Earth to Outer Space: What and Whom is Worth Saving in the Race for Critical Minerals?
Space exploration, energy generation, warfare, disaster recovery: these activities rely on technologies and infrastructures positioned on Earth or in space. Hardware is comprised of minerals, metals, and materials—many now designated as ‘critical’ by national governments—that must be wrested from the Earth and fed into supply chains. Nearly all large-scale problems, and therefore nearly all solutions, rest on this extractive imperative. Yet this very imperative exacerbates many of the same problems it purports to solve: displacement, insecurity, and human suffering. This dilemma shapes our collective imagination of what kinds of futures are possible on Earth and in Space, and therefore what kinds of legal and physical infrastructures are needed for their realization.
Based on fieldwork in mining, energy, policy, and space development on four continents, this talk investigates how this dilemma plays out across sectors and places through common but often conflicting needs for critical minerals and interrogates…
Campus Locations: Alumni House - Eccles (ALUMNI). Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Thursday, March 26, 2026, 12:30 PM – 3:00 PM.
Faculty Friday Work in Progress - Chris Low, Director of the Middle East Center
Distilling Empire: Britain's Archipelago of Coal-Fired Water.
Campus Locations: Tanner Irish Humanities Building - Carolyn (CTIHB). Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, March 27, 2026, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
Faculty Friday Work in Progress - Maria Laura Martinelli
Title coming soon!
Campus Locations: Tanner Irish Humanities Building - Carolyn (CTIHB). Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, April 3, 2026, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
Faculty Friday Work in Progress - Annie Greene, History
Title coming soon!
Campus Locations: Tanner Irish Humanities Building - Carolyn (CTIHB). Campus Wide Event: Yes.
Friday, April 17, 2026, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM.